The fact that President Obama sat down for a joint interview with Hillary Clinton was a not very subtle endorsement of his first term secretary of state’s potential 2016 presidential run.

Here is the video:

The president was asked by Steve Croft about why he chose to do the joint interview. He answered, “Well, the main thing is I just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you, because I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretary of states we’ve had. It has been a great collaboration over the last four years. I’m going to miss her. Wish she was sticking around. But she has logged in so many miles, I can’t begrudge her wanting to take it easy for a little bit. But I want the country to appreciate just what an extraordinary role she’s played during the course of my administration and a lot of the successes we’ve had internationally have been because of her hard work.”

Steve Kroft: What’s the, I have to ask you, what’s the date of expiration on this endorsement?

Secretary Clinton: Oh, Steve, what– you know–

Steve Kroft: No, no, I have to ask that question. I mean, come on. You’re– I mean, you’re sitting here together. Everybody in town is talking about it already and the inter– and this is– it’s taking place.

President Obama: You know, Steve, I gotta tell you, the– you guys in the press are incorrigible. I was literally inaugurated four days ago. And you’re talking about elections four years from now.

Secretary Clinton: Yeah, and I am, as you know, Steve, I am still secretary of state. So I’m out of politics. And I’m forbidden from even hearing these questions. I think that, you know, look, obviously the president and I care deeply about what’s going to happen for our country in the future. And I don’t think, you know, either he or I can make predictions about what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next year. What we’ve tried to do over the last four years is get up every day, have a clear-eyed view of what’s going on in the world. And I’m really proud of where we are.

After both Democrats and Republicans couldn’t avoid dropping their own hints about Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 run at the Benghazi hearings, it seems to be one of the worst kept secrets in politics that Hillary Clinton is seriously considering/ planning on running for president again.

The suspicion has long been that one of the perks of taking the Secretary of State position is that it would shore up Clinton’s one weak policy area, and position her perfectly for another shot at the presidency. (Obama was the only candidate in either party that could have defeated Clinton in 2008, and Republicans are dreaming if they think any one of Christie, Rubio, Ryan, Jindal, or anybody else will have a chance of beating her if she takes the plunge in 2016.)

President Obama has yet to do any national television interviews with Vice President Biden, so he seems to have delivered a clear message about who he thinks the next Democratic nominee should be.

Joe Biden will certainly take a shot at 2016, but if Clinton remains at this level of popularity, he will likely end his next campaign in much the same fashion that he concluded his previous attempts. The best part for Biden could be that he may finally get his dream job if Hillary Clinton wins.

The headline President Elect Clinton Nominates Vice President Biden to be Secretary of State wouldn’t really surprise anyone.

As my colleague Sarah Jones perfectly put it:

Obama Delivered a Not Too Subtle Hillary 2016 Endorsement in 60 Minutes Interview was written by Jason Easley for PoliticusUSA.